Flair in defence and attack brings a win for the 3rd team

Blackheath Wanderers had a strong start however Club soon got into their stride, with great defence work from Sadie Burch and Denise Grant making super interceptions. Jessica Roberts made some great drives to the attacking circle and also defended well when Blackheath won the ball and were attacking back. The shooting pair for the first two quarters was Elize Ansell and Sonia Grant and they shot consistently well. Shannon Murray's centre passes in the first half of the match were strong and accurate and we were scoring within seconds of taking the centre pass. With constant interceptions in the defensive half, Club held a comfortable lead of 13 goals to 6 after a solid first quarter.

The second quarter started off a little slowly but Club soon got into a steady pace. The attacking circle continued to score well with Sonia and Elize not missing a shot. Blackheath also were starting to get into their stride and their shooters were getting their eye in, and Club narrowly won this this quarter 9-8, with the score ending up at 22-14 as we went into half time.

Club made some changes at half time with Grace Thomas moving to Centre for the third quarter; Pia Hooker came on to join Elize in the shooting circle, Georgina Penny came on as WA and Beth Rolf came on as WD. Georgina came out quickly and did some lovely drives on to the centre passes and then followed through with some great quick passes into the shooters. The shooters were working well together and Elize found some great space and positioning in order to receive some lovely, quick passes in from Georgina and Grace. Both Pia and Elize continued to score consistently. Beth, Denise and Sadie played brilliantly in defence this quarter, making lots of interceptions and winning the rebounds in the defensive circle, putting the Blackheath shooters under pressure. This was Club's best quarter in terms of goal difference, Club scoring 12 goals and the defence keeping Blackheath to scoring just 4 goals.

The final quarter saw Shannon return as Centre, and Sonia returned in the attacking circle, shooting this time with Pia. Club started this quarter with a good lead, 34-18 and whilst Blackheath came out this quarter fighting - with their shooters becoming much more consistent, Club kept the pressure on and maintained their composure. Sonia showed great flair and experience within the attacking circle and whilst Blackheath had certainly upped their game, Club continued to play their own game with each player giving 100%. The final score was a well-deserved Club win of 46-29.

Match report by Fern Thomas